Trappist brewing comes to U.S.

Spencer, Mass.

Spencer Brewery Director Father Isaac tastes a sample of Spencer ale wort, an early stage of fermentation, as Belgian brewing engineer Hubert de Halleux looks on at the Spencer Brewery in Spencer, Mass., Jan. 9, 2014.

Brewed by the Trappistine monks of St. Joseph's Abbey, Spencer Trappist Ale is the only certified Trappist beer brewed in the United States.

Credit: Stephan Savoia/AP

Spencer, Mass.

Father William, a Belgium-trained brewer of Trappist beer, checks the live yeast count in a recent batch of Spencer Trappist Ale at the Spencer Brewery.

The monks at St. Joseph’s Abbey have been raising money for more than 60 years by selling jams, jellies and liturgical clothing but now they have a new source of revenue, the brewing of Spencer Trappist Ale.

Credit: Stephan Savoia/AP

Spencer, Mass.

Spencer Brewery Director Father Isaac stands near the top of the facility's fermentation tanks and looks out a window onto the abbey's grounds in Spencer, Mass.

Father Isaac was a potter before joining the Trappist community 35 years ago. He is one of 25 priests living in a community of 63 monks at St. Joseph's.

Credit: Stephan Savoia/AP

Spencer, Mass.

Father Damion, Abbot at St. Joseph's Trappist Abbey walks to the community's chapel for noon service, also known as office, in Spencer, Mass.

Sixty-three brothers and priests live in community at St. Joseph's making it the largest group of Trappist monks in the United States.

Credit: Stephan Savoia/AP

Spencer, Mass.

Members of the Trappist monk community gather for noon service at St. Joseph's Abbey.

Credit: Stephan Savoia/AP

Spencer, Mass.

Father William purges yeast from the bottom of a fermentation tank as Belgian brewing engineer Hubert de Halleux moves hoses around at the Spencer Brewery in Spencer, Mass.

Credit: Stephan Savoia/AP

Spencer, Mass.

A member of St. Joseph's Trappist Abbey walks through the community's cloister in Spencer, Mass.

Credit: Stephan Savoia/AP

Spencer, Mass.

Spencer Brewery Director Father Isaac walks down a set of steps after checking on the fermentation tanks at the Spencer Brewery in Spencer, Mass.

Credit: Stephan Savoia/AP

Spencer, Mass.

Places for members of the Trappist monk community are marked at St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, Mass. Trappist monks think of the beer they brew as food, substance to nourish the body.

Credit: Stephan Savoia/AP

Spencer, Mass.

Father Damion, Abbot at St. Joseph's Trappist Abbey walks into the community's new state-of-the-art beer brewery in Spencer, Mass.

Credit: Stephan Savoia/AP

Spencer, Mass.

Father William checks the color of a Spencer ale pour-off. Father William moved from St Joseph's to Belgium to learn the art of Trappist beer brewing before returning to the United States to assume his duties at the Spencer Brewery.

Credit: Stephan Savoia/AP

Spencer, Mass.

Bottles of Spencer Trappist Ale are seen at the Spencer Brewery in Spencer, Mass.

Credit: Stephan Savoia/AP

Spencer, Mass.

Monks pray during their noon service at the St. Joseph's Trappist Abbey in Spencer, Mass.

Credit: Stephan Savoia/AP

Spencer, Mass.

Father Damion, Abbot at St. Joseph's Trappist Abbey in Spencer, Mass., stands in the community's library.